


It's a wild ride baby(just hold on)

by Falazure



Category: Hellboy (Movies 2004-2008)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Demon/Human Relationships, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Human/Monster Romance, Idiots in Love, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Mild Smut, so you have to write fic about them, that moment when an old OTP punches you in the face
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:26:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29246535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falazure/pseuds/Falazure
Summary: Liz has never really contemplated her appearance much before, but things change.
Relationships: Hellboy/Liz Sherman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	It's a wild ride baby(just hold on)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: not mine, just playing.
> 
> This is what happens when I think ‘hey, why not watch the 2000’s HB movies again just because’ only to remember that I had _feelings_ about them and HB/Liz in particular. 
> 
> Also: I’m playing fast and loose with timelines here because idk the exact sequence of events before the first movie and between the second, I kind of don’t care, I just wanted to write HB/Liz because I am a slut for monster/human ships and I'd forgotten how much I loved these two.
> 
> So enjoy my 6k words of waffle about a 16 year old OTP of mine.

* * *

It wasn’t something that Liz had thought about right away, after everything that had happened in the last few weeks she hadn’t really given much thought about how she looked. It wasn’t as if spending the last year in a psych institute left her much room for personal grooming beyond making sure her hair and skin were clean most days.

So it took her the best part of two weeks before she really started noticing her appearance, mostly how much her hair seemed to be getting in the way.

She pushed it behind her ears with a mild huff as she and Red sat in the cafeteria eating a late lunch, it wasn’t often either of them ate with other people, especially overly nosy B.R.P.D agents, but she’d intercepted him after he’d come back from an overnight mission and had dragged him towards any source of food, even if it came with more scrutiny than she was really comfortable with. But she’d sequestered them into their own corner of the room, draped her legs over Red’s lap while they ate their meagre government-paid-for meals and projected her strongest ‘fuck off’ aura that the agents in the room didn’t even look at them, never mind come their way.

His tail was loosely wrapped around her waist, keeping her close as he none too gracefully shoved food into his mouth at a rate that would be alarming for a human while Liz slowly picked through her bland pasta. She was here to keep him company more than eat herself, making sure he got something in him before he inevitably passed out for several hours. It was the one part of the job she honestly wasn’t relishing coming back to, but she knew that so long as they had each other’s backs it wouldn’t be so bad. She would deal with a fucked sleep-schedule if it meant she could curl up against him most nights.

She spluttered as a strand of hair fell in her face and made a grumbling noise as she dropped her utensils and reached up to push her hair back over her shoulders again, frowning down at her food as she willed it to stay in place. Which worked for about two minuets before another strand nearly dipped itself into her pasta sauce and she rolled her eyes as she moved to flick it back over her shoulder. She paused however when her fingers brushed the dark strands, lifting it in front of her face as she twirled the hair between her fingers, taking a moment for the first time in a long while to actually consider the length of it.

“I think I might cut my hair.” Liz stated, her food forgotten in front of her as she inspected and toyed with the dark strands, pulling it up a little to let it fall back against her shoulder.

“It buggin’ you?” She shrugged, still looking down at the dark mass of hair falling past her shoulders and growing more annoyed with it by the second.

“It’s getting in the way.” She replied, pushing it behind her again as she looked up at him, tired yellow eyes meeting her own and she made a small, unhappy noise as she reached a hand up and smoothed her thumb across the skin between his brows. His shoulders slumped a little and he closed his eyes, relaxation emanating off of him and a small smile pulled at her lips. As big and intimidating as he looked sometimes he really was a giant teddy-bear on the inside, Liz had always liked that about him.

“As nice as this is, if you keep it up I’ll probably fall asleep right here.” His voice rumbled deep within his chest as he swayed more into her space and Liz reluctantly removed her hand, letting her fingers trail down his cheek before she tucked her arm around his and leaned against his shoulder. It would make eating harder for him, but he didn’t push her off, if anything his tail only pulled her closer against his side.

She watched for a moment as he swapped hands to eat with and resumed spooning food into his mouth, seeming to only care about getting it inside him than any kind of enjoyment of the act.

“You wouldn’t care if I lopped it all off then?” She asked, going back to her prior thought as she tapped her fingers against his arm while half-staring at the growing pile of plates in front of them. There was a reason he took most of his meals in his room, the need for dish-space when he was done being one of them.

“It’s your hair, do whatever you want to it.” He shrugged, almost down to his last plate, she’d be able to drag him out of here soon enough to rest. “It’s not like it hasn’t been short before, and you look pretty either way so I don’t care.” He added and Liz leaned her cheek against his large shoulder as she smiled.

It was still a little hard to reconcile that he liked her for _her_ , no requirements or qualifiers, she could probably dress up in a full clown suit and he’d still likely think she was the prettiest women alive. It did strange things to her stomach and she was still getting used to it. She’d spent so long pushing him away, convincing herself that she _should_ push him away, that actually letting herself embrace her feelings was scary, but good. He was a large, stubborn force of nature who had steadily made a home for himself inside her heart and she was done pretending otherwise.

She looked down as he scraped the last bits of food into his mouth, his eyes drooping even as he chewed and swallowed.

“Lets go take a nap huh?” She asked, tugging at his arm and she barely had to exert any pressure before he was up and following her down the long corridors to his room, his smile warm and gentle as he gazed down at her. Like she was the best thing around.

Yeah, the feelings were a little scary, but definitely good.

\----

Liz groaned and rolled her hips one last time, enjoying the way Red squeezed her tighter against his chest and gasped into her cheek, his body one long line of scorching heat along her front as they settled against the bed, his tail gently wrapped around her waist. They panted together, coming down from a truly spectacular fuck and she shifted her head to press her brow into his, humming as his left hand smoothed gently up and down her sweaty back.

She let herself linger in the afterglow for a moment, sliding her arms across his collarbone to rest above his head as she pressed herself further against him and that got an interested grunt and a curious flick of his tail against her hip.

Her enjoyment however was somewhat ruined by the damp strands of her own hair beginning to stick to her neck and shoulders, an annoyed huff leaving her lips as it started to fall into her face. She tried to flick it off, not wanting to move from where she was draped across Red, but it didn’t move, and with an aggravated sound she pulled an arm back and pushed the dark mass of it up and to one side.

Only for it to flop right back into her face.

That got a snarl out of her as she practically yanked her hair up onto her head one-handed, swearing at it all while Red chuckled underneath her, which was an interesting sensation when he was still inside her. It did little to mollify her however as her hair began to fall back down onto her neck and she groaned in annoyance as she tried to grab at it again, her mood effectively ruined.

“Havin’ trouble?” He asked, his grin wide and amused as she half-glared down at him, her annoyance abating a little as his left hand tried to tuck some of her hair up and into her own fingers.

“I don’t know how you deal with long hair.” She groused as she slid up and off of him, he only pouted a little as she settled beside him but he quickly rolled towards her as she pushed her hair up so it was resting on the pillow instead of her back and she sighed, that felt better.

“Mines mostly tied up so I don’t notice it really.” He replied, the both of them shuffling around so that she could rest with her head against his right bicep, his stone hand a reassuring weight behind her while his left settled at the small of her back. His skin was always so warm and she hummed as her fingers danced across the scarlet expanse of it in front of her.

There were few places she really considered home, but this might just be it.

“I’m surprised you don’t have it cropped short.” She said, hands trailing up to his neck as she traced his jaw and his hips shifted towards her in interest.

“Nah, it grows too fast for that.” His left hand trailed up her spine, his thumb gently digging into her skin and she shivered in place. “I’d have to cut it every week if I wanted it that short, it’s easier to let it grow out and put it up.” He added and Liz spared a jealous glance at how the neat bun on his head was somehow _still_ in place. She wasn’t sure if she was irritated with it not getting in his way or at not having done enough to make a mess of it.

“I’m pretty sure if I tied it up it’d still find a way to get in my face.” She grumbled shifting closer even as Red huffed a laugh, he was all to used to her sour moods and griping, he was one of the only people in the _world_ who wasn’t at all afraid of her and she never had the ability to vocalise how much that meant to her. That no matter how bad she got, how much she incinerated everything around her, he would always be there waiting to pull her out of the fire.

“If this is about cutting your hair again then do it, I already told you I’m not gonna complain.” His fingers traced invisible patterns on her skin and she leaned into him, pressing her lips into the warm skin of his collarbone.

“I know, it’s just finding the time.” She sighed and he gave an acknowledging grunt in response. They had busy lives at the best of times and finding a hairdresser of all people willing to come down and cut the hair of a few freaks? She’d have an easier time passing Red off as the Easter Bunny.

“I can lend you a scrunchie in the meantime if you want though?” Red quipped and her eyes snapped up to his, an indignant noise leaving her as his laugh bellowed out in the room.

She pushed him onto his back and he went easily, curses spluttering from her mouth at his continued laughter and he held her close, his tail swishing happily against the sheets as they tussled on the bed.

\----

The thing is it was supposed to have been an easy mission. Get in, contain a mislocated Bunyip, get out.

But no one had told them about the Kelpies, plural. No one had _told_ them they had taken up residence in the humid bayou just south of Houma, and certainly no one had _told_ them that these Kelpies in particular liked the scent of not-quite human, so her Abe and Red had gotten split up within ten minutes of stepping foot into the deep, windy bog when three of the damn things had reared up out of the swampy water and given chase.

The three of them were well-trained yes, but the three of them had also not been expecting aquatic horse-monsters with _very_ sharp teeth to suddenly appear and decide that they were the main meal of the day, well evening. As a result they’d each run off in their own equally stupid direction and had lost track of each other. Thankfully Kelpies were not fire-proof but now Liz was left trying to play find-the-teammates in a dark, treacherously footed maze of death where for all she knew more of the damn things would come out of the water.

Safe to say this was not how she’d wanted to spend her weekend.

She let out a sigh as she carried on walking, trying to remember if any bits of bog or bushes looked familiar, it was somewhat hard to remember specific landmarks when running from an over-sized and very hungry horse-thing. She kept her gun pointed in front of her as she tapped at her earpiece with the other hand.

“Red, Abe, if you can hear me signal back.” Nothing but static greeted her and she cursed.

The small pit of worry that had been gnawing at her gut every since they’d gotten split-up widened, sure Red and Abe could handle themselves, they all could, it was kind of their thing, but that didn’t mean they were invincible. Hell Abe was probably the squishiest out of the three of them and Red, well… he wasn’t so good at risk-assessment. He had a bad habit of throwing himself into fights he couldn’t necessarily win just because he could pack a punch and take a hit.

She’d seen him on a medical bay bed too many times during her life for her to be happy about leaving him alone out here.

A rustle sounded to her left and she held her breath as she twisted to face it, her gun held steady as she stared at the wet mass of trees before her. A nicker and large otter scurried out of the bushes and Liz’s breath blasted out of her as she bent over, hands pressed to her knees.

She really hated days like this.

“Liz- ou there?- Li-” Her head snapped up as she heard Red’s voice in her ear, her head whipping around as if he’d suddenly appear at her side, like he always did.

“Red? Can you hear me?” She said into her mic, she turned when she thought she heard a thud in the distance behind her, her feet already beginning to move towards the sound.

“Got- live ones here- Liz?” Static still crackled at the line and she swore as she picked up her pace, another thud, this time louder, closer, and she knew she was on the right track.

Her feet thumped on the ground as she pushed into the dense bushes and short trees, she could already tell this route would be a bitch to get through, but she wasn’t willing to find another way around, a familiar yelp sounded ahead of her and she sucked in a breath, her legs moving faster, arms shoving and pushing at the damp foliage around her.

She let out a loud grunt of frustration as she jogged forwards and all at once her head snapped back, a pained gasp leaving her throat as her hair was yanked back. For a horrible split second she thought something had got her, another Kelpie or the Bunyip they’d originally been sent after, but when seconds passed where nothing happened she looked back, only to see her dark hair tangled in a twisted clump of branches.

“Oh for fucks sake.” She snapped, moving to try and tug the strands out of the wood and wincing when it did little, if anything she thought she was getting it even more tangled. Another loud yell sounded in the swamp and Liz yanked at the caught hair, a pained whine leaving her as the motion tugged at her scalp and she could feel the anger starting to burn through her, her hands heating up, beginning to flicker and spark.

She tried to tamp it down, just because she was getting better at controlling her powers didn’t mean she could let loose like this, not with Abe still somewhere unknown in the woods, not without something to help pull her back. A small burst to get rid of a Kelpie was one thing, causing a bushfire because she wanted to free her hair was entirely another.

Another noise, this one a cry of pain and Liz almost screamed, visions of Red slumped over in the water, creatures swarming all over him, tearing at his skin, biting his flesh. In an instant she gave up trying to free the tangled strands, pulled out the field issue knife strapped at her back and blindly hacked away at her hair. She swiped and yanked until she was free and she didn’t pause for a moment, sprinting towards the sounds of the fight as fast as she could, the knife dropped from her hand somewhere along the way, she didn’t care, she wasn’t going to need it.

Her breath panted out of her as she ran, legs burning, but she could hear Red ahead of her, swearing at the monsters and thwacking them back.

She burst out of the trees into a small-ish patch of bog, Red at the centre of it with two Kelpies lunging and snapping at him as he dodged, moving his bulk around way faster than he really should be able to. Liz didn’t wait for him to see her, running up, ducking under the hind legs of a horse-monster and smacking right into his side.

Startled yellow eyes turned to her.

“Liz!” She didn’t respond to his call, didn’t flinch as his stone hand sent a Kelpie flying, she kept her eyes on him as she loosened the ring of control inside her bit by bit, indescribable heat filling up her insides and bleeding out of her.

“Don’t leave.” Her voice was far-away and hollow to her own ears, fire flicking up her arms and Red only held on as she scraped down deep inside herself and let go.

She never had much recollection of the events during when she unleashed her powers, only the vague memories of white-heat covering her vision, of impossible pressure escaping out of her every which way, of feeling free and open in a way that was intoxicating and utterly terrifying at the same time. Almost like if she truly let go she would burn away forever on the wind.

“Liz.” A deep, gentle voice called to her, her vision starting to solidify. “Liz.” She blinked, once, twice, and then shuddered violently as all at once she was dumped back into her body, a breath gasping out of her as she swayed forwards on her knees, how did she get on her knees?

Her forehead found a warm, solid chest and she rasped in a deep breath, her hands scrabbling at the arms holding her steady. “Hey, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

She let out a whining noise from the back of her throat, pressing closer to the body in front of her, Red’s body, and she felt his large, warm hands gently petting her head and holding her close, he always had such warm hands.

She didn’t black-out as much any more after, but she was still left in a haze, her movements groggy and slow as her limbs felt like jelly and she shifted listlessly as she tried to stand. Strong arms surrounded her, tucked her against a warm chest and she felt herself leave the ground. She’d protest at being treated like a delicate, breakable thing if she were in her right mind, but as it was she just pressed closer to Red’s body, able to control one arm enough to grasp at the lapel of his coat as she held on simply to _hold_ on, grounding herself to something, someone.

Time flew away from her, Red left the swamp within minuets, hours? They found Abe, or he found them, he’d been successful in locating the Bunyip and it would be transported back to Australia, one good thing in this mess at least. She came back to herself for a moment in the chopper, the steady _thud thud thud_ of the blades letting her know they were on their way home as she sat curled in Red’s lap, his arms a reassuring weight around her as she leaned into him, her hand still tightly grasped into his coat as Abe and Red’s voices floated around her in conversation.

She drifted away again, let herself sink into the warm safety of Red’s arms as they headed home.

Liz blinked awake later, a groan leaving her lips as she rolled over in a familiar bed, a tiny _churrip_ greeting her as a hand bumped into one of the four cats sleeping with her, and she smiled as she gently scrunched her fingers into soft fur. As much as they got underfoot she always liked how they tucked themselves into her after days like this, much like their keeper, who wasn’t currently beside her.

Frowning Liz pushed herself up, a small noise leaving her as her body felt like lead and she saw Red’s head pop up from the couch, the light from a movie flickering across him as he stood up and hurried over.

“Hey you okay?” He asked, crouching by the bed instead of settling onto it and Liz partly glared as she peered up at him, why wasn’t he in bed with her?

“I need to pee.” Came out of her mouth instead and she watched as he huffed a small laugh before holding his hands out to her.

“Come on then.” He responded and she let herself be dragged up and off the bed, only stumbling a little as she got her feet underneath herself and started to wobble off to the bathroom. His hands reached out to help steady her but she waved him off.

“I’ve got it.” She said, even as she slumped into the door a little too heavily and resolutely ignored the snickers from behind her. She’d set the bathroom on fire and see how he liked that.

She managed to get inside and use the toilet, still feeling tired but at least more with it than she had on the chopper, her limbs felt heavy and awkward but she could move under her own power and she had enough presence of mind to wash more than just her hands while she stood hunched over the basin, contemplating her own reflection before a knock at the door startled her.

“You okay in there?” Red’s voice was muffled through the door and Liz stood up and walked over to unlatch it, going back to the basin as his bulk squeezed through the frame and into the small room.

Liz grabbed a towel as Red sat himself down on the closed toilet seat, yellow eyes carefully watching her and while she prickled a little at the focused attention a larger part of her liked it, liked that she was pretty much always his primary focus whenever she was near him.

She patted the towel against her face and neck, watching Red in the mirror as she dried herself off when his expression froze, a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Oh.”

“What?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him as she dropped the towel on the counter.

“I know you were talking about cutting your hair, but you didn’t have to do it yourself.” He was trying, and failing, to keep his grin from widening and Liz blinked as she remembered the swamp and she grabbed at the back of her head, her mouth falling open slightly as her fingers came into contact with some _significantly_ shorter strands. She pulled her hair out to the side, her mouth dropping even further open at the very obvious shorn patch within her dark hair and she slumped forwards, burying her face in her hands.

“How bad does it look?” She asked, dragging her hands down her face as she looked up at him in the mirror, his face sheepish as he tried not to find the state of her hair amusing, the jackass.

“It’s not _that_ bad.” He didn’t look at all convinced and she scowled at him.

“Red...”

“No really! If you just pull it back a bit, or wear it up I’m sure it’ll look fine.” He was utterly useless at being reassuring sometimes and Liz let out an aggravated noise as her shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Warm heat blazed against her side as she heard him step up to her, his left hand gently carding through her hair and she leaned into it despite her irritation. “You _did_ want to get it cut.” Normally she loved the way his voice rumbled through her when he was this close, but that made her look up at him, levelling him with a flat glare.

“Yeah, by a professional, or at least someone who knows what they’re doing. Not by hacking it off with a _knife_.” She grumbled, angrily flicking the tap off and hating how whiny she was being over this, it was _just_ hair for fucks sake.

A small hum sounded to her side and Red’s hand pressed a little firmer against the back of her head, her lids fluttered a little at the sensation.

“I could do the rest of it if you wanted?” He asked, still grinning a little. “Make it even?” And Liz snorted at that, she kind of wanted to tell him to fuck off, but she also just wanted to go back to bed and ignore it all for the rest of the day, evening, whatever time it was.

“No.” She shook her head, letting him turn her towards him as he pulled her against his chest. “I’ll just look like a fucking idiot for a few weeks.” She said as she buried her face into his collarbone and plastered herself against him as much as she could, basking in the warm heat of him surrounding her as she closed her eyes.

“The offer of the scrunchie is still there.” Liz felt herself smile, a content sigh leaving her lips as she relaxed into his embrace and felt the stress of the last few hours begin to melt off of her. “You’re not falling asleep on me are you?” He asked and Liz let out a non-committal noise as she tried to burrow deeper into his chest.

She felt rather than heard his sigh. “Okay, you can yell at me later for this.” She didn’t get the chance to question him before she found herself scooped up, his stone hand under her legs as his left held her securely against him, her legs bracketing his torso as he moved out from the bathroom and back towards the bed.

He was right, she probably _would_ yell at him later for this, but in the moment she only snuggled closer and let him carry her back to the bed, dragging him down with her into the sheets when they got there.

\----

Thankfully her estimation of a few weeks was a little pessimistic, she’d only had to suffer the indignity of an awful self-inflicted hair cut for about a week and a half before she’d found herself with a full day off. No missions, no paperwork, no need to research some monster she’d never heard of until 3am, an entire day to herself to do whatever she wanted.

Red had tried to ply her with the prospect of bad movies, beer and some not-so-innocent necking during said bad-movies, but she had her eyes firmly on the prize of fixing her hair. Even the allure of spending a lazy day with her boyfriend wasn’t enough to tear her away from her plans.

Much to Red’s disappointment.

“I’ll be back in an hour or two at most.” She called through the bathroom door, pulling up her jeans before stepping out to see her pouting boyfriend as he sat dejected on the arm of a chair.

“I had a whole theme picked out.” He said, his hands spreading out in front of him like he was setting up a picture and Liz only shook her head as she moved up to him.

“Uh-huh, and they’ll still be here when I get back.” She pointed out, leaning in to press a kiss against his cheek. She knew what he was doing, he always got twitchy when she left the Bureau without him, she wasn’t entirely sure if it was because he was afraid she wouldn’t come back, or because he couldn’t join her.

She figured it was a mixture of the two and it always made her heart feel a little heavy.

She didn’t regret choosing to be with him, but sometimes she wished they could go out on a normal date, eat dinner in a shitty restaurant instead of his room or the cafeteria, go see a movie and laugh about it afterwards without the risk of cops showing up or people running off screaming like he’d hurt them. She wanted to give Red more human experiences, but that was hard to manage when his mere existence made people want to pull guns on him.

She shrugged on her jacked and stepped up to him again, pressing a lingering kiss to his brow. “You won’t even notice I’m gone.” She murmured against his skin and she heard him huff.

“Not possible.” Her heart squeezed at that and she reached both hands up and cupped his face, her thumbs stroking across his skin as she made her pouting boyfriend look at her.

“Make sure everything’s ready to go when I get back alright?” That got her a smile and a long sigh, his shoulders lifting as he seemed to visibly brighten.

“Yeah, yeah, better make sure I don’t keep my lady waiting huh?” Satisfied that he was at least somewhat mollified she thumbed at his jaw one last time before heading to the door and leaving, she didn’t look back, she’d probably let him burrow her onto the couch and keep her there if she did.

She walked swiftly through the compound, her feet taking her where she needed to be without her conscious input and in no time she was stood outside the doors, the cool wind flicking across her face and lightly tugging at the strands of hair escaping her ponytail. A sleek, black car waited for her at the bottom of the steps and she let out a sigh before walking down and getting in. She didn’t need the same entourage that Red did, but it was always a reminder that while she was a _guest_ at the Bureau, she still wasn’t entirely free to go wherever she wanted without surveillance. She’d never liked it, but if she wanted to stay here, she’d have to accept it.

Thirty minutes later her car had pulled up to a small, nondescript hair salon on a nearly empty street, this place had been picked to be discreet and out of the way of prying eyes, just in case. She didn’t have the same control issues that she’d had almost a year ago now, but she still didn’t want to risk the safety of others if she could help it, like any special human she was a bit twitchy with sharp objects anywhere near her neck.

The inside of the shop was tidy and quiet, smelling the way all hair salons did, an odd mixture of all the different shampoos and dyes that were used throughout the day and in no time Liz had settled into a chair with a friendly, but not too chatty older woman tending to her unfortunate mess of hair.

Liz didn’t know if the other woman had any knowledge at all about who she was, what she was, or where she was from, but she kept the talk to a minimum and got on with her job. All things considered it could have been worse and she let her eyes drift shut to the gentle _snicks_ of scissors.

“You did a number on this, but it’s all done.” Liz opened her eyes, looking up at the warm smile of the woman behind her as she held a mirror in her hands and Liz slowly scanned over her new hair cut. It was short, much shorter than she’d had even in the past and she brought up a hand to prod and play with the strands, seeing how they fell against her face and tucked behind her ear.

She liked it, it wouldn’t get in the way… but. “Is there something else you want?” The older woman asked and Liz opened her mouth before shutting it again.

“Actually, there is a little something.” Attentive green eyes watched her and Liz explained her decision.

Another ten minuets and Liz smiled happily at her reflection, her fingers smoothing down the much shorter cut on the right side of her head, it was _very_ different to how she’d had her hair in the past, but she liked it. A lot.

She made her goodbyes, thanked the woman who’d served her and got back in the car, pressing her hands between her thighs and shifting in her seat as she watched the streets and trees roll by. She wasn’t nervous per-se, Red had never had a bad word to say about she looked, ever. But still, it was a pretty big change and she’d hate it if he somehow didn’t like it.

She unbuckled herself when the car stopped and got out, moving up to the familiar doors that never betrayed the secrets within and began her trek along the winding, almost labyrinth like corridors of the Bureau until she was stood outside the large steel door that was more of a home than anywhere else had been in her life. She took in a breath and pulled at the handle, heavy steel moving far easier than it should as she stepped inside and pulled it shut behind her.

She smiled as she dodged a few cats, ruffled the back of another as she stepped past the table and dropped her jacket onto an empty chair as she caught sight of the large expanse of Red’s back as he kneeled on the floor by the TV. He smacked the VCR once and she grinned.

“Don’t break that.” She chided, sticking her thumbs into her back pockets as Red stood and turned towards her.

“It’s had more than a few years to handle...” He trailed off as his eyes locked onto her face, his expression more than a little dumbfounded and Liz tried not to squirm as he unapologetically stared at her. She cleared her throat and pushed the longer strands on the left side of her face behind her ear, trying not look away.

“Do you like it?” She asked and Red’s jaw clicked shut as he suddenly straightened and nodded.

“It’s nice.” He said and Liz blinked at him.

“Nice? Is that it?” She scoffed at him and he instantly stepped closer, his hands almost fluttering about her shoulders as if he thought touching her at this point was a bad idea.

“No, not just nice, lovely! Uh, beautiful, radiant? You look good, well you always look good, but this is especially good-” Liz felt an utterly stupid smile spread across her lips as she watched her babbling boyfriend trying to save face, any nerves she had melting away as he rambled. “Not that you didn’t look good before-”

Laughing she reached her hands up and held his face between her hands.

“Red?” That paused his rambling, at least for the moment.

“Uh-huh?” His eyes were fixed solely on her, his gaze intent and heavy.

“Shut up.” She told him and his mouth clicked shut, his tail swishing erratically behind him and Liz stepped closer, leaning into the warm length of his body and she felt him suck in a breath as she pulled his head down towards her own.

She let her lips hover over his for moment. “You said something about terrible movies and making-out?” She prompted, feeling her stomach flip at the wide grin that spread across his face, eager hands grasping at her sides as she walked them back towards the couch.

“That I did.” He murmured against her mouth and a startled yelp left his lips as she turned around and pushed him down, following easily after him.

Liz’s hand pawed at the ground for the remote as Red’s lips slid across her own, stealing her breath and making her toes curl in her shoes. “There’s beer too.” He added, pulling away for a moment and Liz only huffed and dragged him back.

One thing at a time.

**Author's Note:**

> While I can google to the best of my abilities I am not from the US, so if I have gotten something really off about the locale I have picked please let me know and I’ll fix it.
> 
> References for monsters used:
> 
> 1\. Kelpie: _a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lakes in Scottish folklore. It is a Celtic legend; however, analogues exist in other cultures. It is usually described as a black horse-like creature, able to adopt human form_. While Kelpies are usually depicted as being far less aggro, and more about luring their victims into water to munch them, I went with the view that when dealing with not-quite-humans they forgo the duplicity and get straight to The Murder.
> 
> 2\. The Bunyip: _a creature from First Nations Australian mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. The bunyip was part of traditional First Nations beliefs and stories throughout Australia, while its name varied according to tribal nomenclature. Bunyip in the Wemba-Wemba language means "devil" or "Evil spirit”_. I wanted a non-European creature for something different, even if it's in name only.
> 
> And as always I edit my stuff as best I can, but if there are any glaring typos or errors please let me know. :)


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